BIZAFFAIRS – Hard work works

Before I start. I will first deny the pursuit of the few rare events of sudden, unreasonably fortunate, logically contradictory success. I don’t believe in chances. I don’t wish to be the luckiest. I wish to be reasonably rewarded.

People only see one driving a G Wagon; they don’t see the miles he/she has driven on the almost broken, AC never working pick-up van, going around receiving rejections, humiliation and frustration. Then people are quick to say it was easy for the individual to get a business because he or she is driving a G Wagon, or that they have too much money. But nobody understands or remembers how things were before the money was made. The fact of the matter is that we all didn’t have at some point in the journey. We all started our journeys with bare hands and in a place far from where we are today.

Let me tell you my story. When people look at me today, I can tell they most often say to themselves “this young girl is so lucky” or “her parents must be rich and she really didn’t have to hustle for anything”.

People don’t know when I started my first internship in university, I treated it like it was a serious job. I worked until 3am most of the time for a non-paid summer internship, I also outperformed most of the permanent employees in the institution but I made no financial gain. Let me reiterate that I made nothing financially but that was the foundation for the woman I have become today. During this internship program I learnt that I could make anything I wanted happen once I am able and willing to do more. I learnt that as a result of doing more I am most likely to breakthrough sooner or later, smaller or bigger, through window or door, one way or another, it will happen.

When I first moved to Ghana, I was faced with an array of frustrations just like everyone else, the same frustrations I still face today.

People assumed “she is young, she is foreign, she will get frustrated then she will leave”. I got frustrated, yes, but I didn’t leave. If for nothing at all, I have learnt “patience” from this country. (For security reasons, I will omit the names and details here) The first contract I got for my company, we sat outside our client’s office, “waiting area”, for 2 good weeks, 10 good working days, just so that we can talk to them, just to get 5 minutes free time. Even so, at the end of such trial, we only got a request to perform a mission impossible, to help the client get a customer that they themselves have not been able to get over the years.

There onwards, another long wait and pursuit started. The long and short is, we were able to get the client and performed what were typically termed “impossible missions” in the industry.

That spirit is what kicked us off as a company and has also kept us going until today.

In fact, it is today written in our company mission statement, “extra miles”. We also go extra miles for us, our clients and all stakeholders.

The principle of business success is simply a question of “why do good when you can do better”.